Originally Posted by
klswift
For wheelchair lapquilts I would not use a batting. Either just have the flannel backing or, if you want a bit of extra thickness, use a flannel for batting and backing. It would be easier for the kids and quite a bit cheaper. Might I suggest you do a 'self-binding'? Keep the backing 1" bigger and double fold it over to the front and then topstitch (I like to use a decorative stitch) to hold the binding down. This would be easy for the kids and it eliminates the possibility of binding coming loose. As wheelchair quilts or nursing home quilts, they will get some hard use and lots of laundering.
I'd do it this way too--my guild mentored high school kids making large lap quilts and most opted for the type of batting klswitft suggests. WE did not use poly bat for these reasons stated, a cotton blend is best. But I'd think about just a 2nd layer of flannel actually. Have them stitch a seam down the center vertically, then one horizontally in the center and then work out from there with their quilting. Due to the spray hazards in a classroom (with some kids being super allergic or sensitive) we opted for pinning the sandwich.